In a refrigerator or other appliance for storing containers of food substances, which can be found within a kitchen environment, garages, bars, restaurants, and other places, there can be numerous containers of various types, sizes, and shapes that are configured to store all matter of food substances. It can be useful to know the amount of a food substance that is remaining within a container, in order to avoid food waste and in order to determine when it is or is not necessary to purchase additional quantities of a specific food substance. However, determining the amount of the food substance stored in the container can be difficult to ascertain.
Previous methods of determining amounts of food substances stored within containers in a refrigerator include estimating remaining contents based on the mass of the container, visual imaging of containers, and user input regarding consumption of the food substance. Estimating the contents of a container based on the mass requires many sensors to be provided in order to measure the mass of different containers, increasing production costs and complexity of the refrigerator. Visual imaging can require the use of transparent containers and result in inaccurate measurements when opaque containers are present. Requiring a user to input information places an extra burden on the user which is not desirable.